Book Club

You can find information about what we’re reading this month, what we have previously read, and book club FAQs below, as well as information about our discounted book club ordering service and tips on setting up your own book club!

Everyone is welcome to come along; there’s no need to book in advance; and we are pleased to offer a 10% discount on all current book club titles.

Join us at our four monthly Book Clubs!

TUESDAY EVENING BOOK CLUB

1st Tuesday of each month, 6-7 pm

WEDNESDAY MORNING BOOK CLUB

2nd Wednesday of each month, 10 – 11 am

TRAVEL WRITING BOOK CLUB

3rd Thursday of each month, 6:30 – 7:30 pm

PALAS CINEMA BOOK CLUB

(Usually) Last Monday of each month, 6:30 pm

You can also keep up to date with the Charlie Byrne’s Book Clubon our Facebook group page for book club members!

We’re currently reading:

Book Club FAQs:

Here’s a little more info about our book clubs:

How did the book clubs get started?

Charlie Byrne’s Book Club started back in February 2013 with Old Filth by Jane Gardam. The book club has gone from strength to strength in the capable hands of Megan Buckley and John Carrigy and has recently passed hands to Michaela McDermott. We have occasional field trips to literary events and other fun outings; a regular supply of homemade baked delights, courtesy of many our our members; and a guaranteed dose of lively conversation, what more could you ask for!

So how do the book clubs work?

At each meeting we have a friendly and relaxed (but rousing!) chat about the book we’ve read; we choose the title for the following month together as a group; we enjoy (often homemade!) baked treats and coffee, and generally have a good time. We’re a mix of men and women, ages 20-something-ish to 70-something-ish, and we always welcome new members of all ages, genders, and reading tastes. Feel free to come to any and all of our book clubs: you can drop in and out anytime as it suits you. We’re a pretty laid-back gang: no need to sign up or reserve a place or anything. Just turn up on the night. And, you don’t even have to come to the meetings to read along with us: there’s a 10% discount for everyone on the current month’s book club pick.

Do you have a Children’s Book Club?

Yes: We currently have two children’s book clubs for children aged 9-11 years facilitated by children’s section manager Michaela. For more information see our children’s book club page.

Do you take a break during the summer, or for Christmas?

Nope: we meet each and every month, January through December, so feel free to drop into one of our meetings year-round.

Any questions, contact us at Charlie Byrne’s at 091-561-766, or info@charliebyrne.ie

Books we’ve read:

Molly Keane by Sally Phipps

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski

The Architect’s apprentice by Elif Shafak

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee

The Powerby Naomi Alderman

The Iron Age by Arja Kajermo

The Noise of Timeby Julian Barnes

Night Flight by Antoine De Saint Exupery

A tale for the time being by Ruth Ozeki

Still Midnight by Denise Mina

Round Ireland with a fridge by Tony Hawks

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

The Great Railway Bazzaar by Paul Theroux

The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

Eight Feet in the Andes by Dervla Murphy

Falling Man by Don DeLillo

The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath

Venice by Jan Morris

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney

Moscow Tales by Sasha Dugdale

Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Danube by Claudio Magris

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Martin John by Anakana Schofield

Berlin Stories by Robert Walser

Shadows on Our Skin by Jennifer Johnston

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

City of Djinns by William Dalrymple

A Whole Life by Robert Sethaler

Tom’s Midnight Garden By Phillipa Pearce

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

McCarthy’s Bar by Pete McCarthy

Blood River by Tim Butcher

Equal Rights by Terry Pratchet

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

A Study in Scarlet & A Sign of Four by Sherlock Holmes

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance by Robert Pirsig

Translations by Brian Friel

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Pleasures and Landscapes; A Traveller’s Tales from Europe by Sybille Bedford

The City of Falling Angels by John BerendtWaterlog by Roger DeakinLife after Life by Kate AtkinsonA Death in the Family by Karl Ove KnausgaardWanderlust by Rebecca SolnitWhy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette WintersonThe Rosie Project by Graeme SimsionHomage to Barcelona by Colm TóibínThe Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil GaimanStar of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor84 Charing Cross Road by Helene HanffThin Paths by Julia BlackburnParallax by Sinead MorrisseyThe Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodVenetian Navigators: The Voyages of the Zen Brothers to the Far North by Andrea di RobilantThe Riddle of the Sands by Erskine ChildersO My America! Six Women and Their Second Acts in a New World by Sara WheelerNorthline by Willy VlautinNothing Holds Back the Night by Delphine de ViganThe Innocents Abroad by Mark TwainCold Comfort Farm by Stella GibbonsJulius Winsome by Gerard DonovanGreen Hills of Africa by Ernest HemingwayAcademy Street by Mary CostelloPersepolis by Marjane SatrapiTravels with a Mexican Circus by Katie HickmanTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le CarréThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de WaalWhite Feathers by Susan Lanigan

Meet our book club coordinators:

Megan Buckley Founder of Book Clubs at Charlie Byrne’s

Michaela our Book Club Coordinator and her favourite dog customer Zulu

Book club facilitator Michaela McDermott recently took over our Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning book clubs. Book clubs began their successful run under the guidance of Megan Buckley. Megan has worked in publishing and bookselling since 1999, when she began her work life as an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster in New York. She received her PhD in English from NUI, Galway in 2013, and is a freelance developmental editor specializing in practical nonfiction.

Although Megan still takes part in the occasional book club, she has passed the torch onto Michaela, who loves her new role within the book club. Michaela received her BA in English and Social Policy, as well as her MA in Literature and Publishing from NUIG and has keen interests in literary fiction, mythology, sci fi and children’s literature. Michaela’s favourite books include (but are not limited to) The Little Prince, Slaughter House Five, The Master and Margarita and absolutely anything by Tolkien. Michaela is also our Children’s Manager.

Travel Book Club Coordinator John

John is our resident travel book expert at Charlie Byrne’s and was naturally delighted to establish a travel book club at Charlie Byrne’s. John has an MA in Medieval History and is currently pursuing a PhD in early modern travel writing. John is also the beneficiary of Galway Doctoral Scholarship Scheme 2015-2019 at NUI, Galway. Apart from travel writing, John has an interest in Irish interest novels, Irish history, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy and classics. John’s favourite books include Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, Danube by Claudio Magris and Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brien.

Book club ordering service:

We love working with book clubs – not just our own! – and are happy to offer suggestions and place book orders whenever possible. We can order any in-print books for book clubs, and we offer a 10% discount on such orders to all book club members. We can also reserve any secondhand copies of book club titles, and keep them aside for book club members to collect. Just ask any member of staff, email us, or give us a call at 091-561-766: we’ll help you find the perfect read for your next book club meeting.